1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to adding value to mail pieces such as envelopes and postcards containing or bearing advertising material or retail information sent to retail customers. This invention particularly relates to embedding discount coupon values within evidence of U.S. postage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, many advertisers mail coupons or marketing materials contained within an envelope. Many recipients of these envelopes throw them away without ever opening the envelopes. Other retailers utilize postcards as coupons. However, even if a recipient does not throw away the postcard and instead redeems it, the issuer of the coupon has no way of tracking which recipient redeemed the coupon, how long after the coupon was mailed it was redeemed, or whether the coupon is genuine or counterfeit.
Thus, there is a need to provide a way for retailers to add value to envelopes to encourage recipients to open and/or keep the envelopes. In addition, there is a need to provide the retailers with a way to obtain information about the recipients who redeem the mailings.